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Portland's Damian Lillard 'day-to-day' with abdominal injury

Published November 15, 2021, 9:00 AMNBA.com News Services
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Lillard is off to a slow start in his 10-year career, averaging 20 points on 38% shooting.

Portland Trail Blazers standout Damian Lillard will be out indefinitely as he recovers from a nagging abdominal injury, coach Chauncey Billups told the media Sunday.

Lillard has dealt with the injury, known as lower abdominal tendinopathy, for several few seasons. Monday’s (PHT) road game at Denver marked his first absence of 2021-22.

“Anytime it gets irritated it’s just a little irritation there, you know what I mean?” Lillard told the media earlier this month. “But I’ve played with it for a few years now so I’m kind of immune to playing with it. I’ve played well, I’ve done a lot of things with it being irritated, but it’s just (frustrating).”

Lillard, 31, is off to one of the worst starts of his career, averaging 20 points — his fewest since 2013-14 — on 38% shooting. As it stands, his 26.8% on 3-pointers would be the lowest of his career by 10 percentage points.